MLB News

Worth noting

By
Jordan BastianMLB.com

• The Indians adjusted their probable starting pitchers for the upcoming series in Toronto. Cleveland will start Justin Masterson and Corey Kluber on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, to keep them on a normal five-day schedule. Danny Salazar (originally penciled in for Tuesday) will now pitch on Thursday, giving him seven days of rest between outings.

"You try to do what's kind of in the best interest of everybody," Francona said. "Sometimes that's not the easiest thing, but I think keeping Masty and Kluber on their day was important. And then we also thought giving Danny a couple [extra days] might not be so bad, either."

• The Indians adjusted their probable starting pitchers for the upcoming series in Toronto. Cleveland will start Justin Masterson and Corey Kluber on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, to keep them on a normal five-day schedule. Danny Salazar (originally penciled in for Tuesday) will now pitch on Thursday, giving him seven days of rest between outings.

"You try to do what's kind of in the best interest of everybody," Francona said. "Sometimes that's not the easiest thing, but I think keeping Masty and Kluber on their day was important. And then we also thought giving Danny a couple [extra days] might not be so bad, either."

• Catcher George Kottaras, who was designated for assignment by the Indians on Wednesday, has cleared waivers. On May 4, Kottaras became the first batter in Indians history to launch a home run in each of his first two career plate appearances with the club. He has 72 hours to decide whether to accept or decline an outright assignment to the Minors.

• Francona gave Swisher the option of taking Sunday's game off, providing two straight days of rest with a team off-day looming on Monday. Swisher agreed that taking a game off could be beneficial. Entering Sunday, Swisher was batting .146 (6-for-41) in his past 13 games, following a nine-game stretch in which he hit .333 (12-for-36).

"We kind of gave him his choice," Francona said. "We have a plan every night of how we want to go through it, like a checklist. I told Swish if he needed a day, if he thought it'd be good for him, [he could have one]. He did."

• Utility man Elliot Johnson, who accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus on Friday, was officially added to the Clippers' roster on Sunday. In order to add Johnson to the fold, the Indians released Triple-A pitcher Brett Brach, who had an 8.10 ERA in 6 2/3 innings this season.